Combined footrest and leg rest



July 4, 1961 F. J. DEADY 2,991,126

COMBINED FOOTREST AND LEG REST Filed Dec. 28, 1959 INVENTOR. Hare/777776 .1 Dead;

United States Patent 2,991,126 COMBINED FOOTREST AND LEG REST Florentine J. Deady, 210 W. 36th St, Kansas City, Mo.

Filed'Dec. 28, 1959, Ser. No. 862,304 11 Claims. (Cl. 297-439) The present invention relates in general to footrests, and it deals more particularly with an improved rest for comfortably elevating the feet of a person occupying a sitting or semi-reclining position in a chair or the like.

' The object of the invention, broadly speaking, is to provide, for the use of individuals when occupying a sitting or semi-reclining position, a unitary, portable rest adapted to support the feet and/or legs with much greater comfort than is offered by conventional foot stools.

Another object is to provide a footrest of such versatility as to accommodate it readily to the needs and comfort of the individual user, whether he be a large or small person with long or short legs, and regardless of the manner in which his sitting posture may be influenced-by the character and elevation of the chair or. other seat he may be occupying at the time.

More specifically it is an aim of the invention to provide a unitary, portable rest of the kind indicated which is manually adjustable and/or self-adjustable in position, as regards elevation and/or slope of the rest platform in order to readily accommodate it to suit the comfort of th'e'u'ser.

'-"A further object is to provide a device of this character which may be employed interchangeably or variably as a rest for the soles of the feet, or for the back of. the heels, or for the back of the legs, depending upon the personal preference and desire-s of the user.

Still another object is to provide a foot and/r leg rest of the kind described, which may be moved readily from place to place about the room without lifting or sliding. A feature of the invention resides in the provision of a'unitary footrest which can freely rock and tilt in the course of use, and which may be moved about freely with the feet to obtain the position or positions most comforta-ble to the user.

A further feature resides in the provision of a rest having a cushioned rest surface for thelegs or heels, as well as a relatively hard uncushioned platform for the soles of the feet, either of which supports may be employed at any given time depending upon the needs and wishes of the user.

Other objects and features will appear in the course of the following description of the invention.

'In the accompanying drawings which form a part of the specification and are to be read in conjunction therewith, and in which like reference numerals are employed to indicate like parts of the various views:

FIG. 1 is a. perspective view of my improved footrest;

- FIG. 2 is a sectional elevation taken along a plane intermediate the end members of my footrest, and illustrating the manner in which same is employed as a rest for the solesfof the feet;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2, but illustrating the manner in which my improved rest is employed to afford cushioned support for the legs of the user;

FIG. 4 is a cross section taken along the line 4--4 of FIG. 2 in the direction of the arrows; I

FIG. 5 is an end elevational view of a modified form of footrest according to the invention; 'ZFIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the same form 'of theinvention shown in FIG. 5, said cross section being Patented July 4, 1961 Referring more particularly to FIG. 1, my footrest employs an elongate, generally rectangular, platform 10 supported at its ends by a pair of disk-shaped floor-engaging wheels 12 which are somewhat larger in diameter than the width of the platform. Conveniently, both the platform and the wheels can be constructed of wood and secured together by means of a pair of screws 14, 16 at each end of the assembly, those screws extending through appropriate holes in each wheel into the adjacent end of the platform. Both wheels are provided with floor engaging treads 18 of rubber or other suitable material, thereby to resist sliding of my device along the floor while at the same time permitting free rolling movement thereof.

In using my improved device as a rest or support for the soles of ,the feet of a person sitting in a chair, both feet are placed upon the platform 10 in the manner illustrated in FIG. 2. The curved undersides of the wheels 12 carrying this platform permit the platform to rock freely to whatever angle may be most comfortable to the user. Moreover, by pressing down with heel or toe, a rocking movement may be imparted to the foot of the user while it is supported in elevated position; unlike stationary foot rests which, when used for a long period of time, tend to induce subconscious muscle tension and weariness by always maintaining the feet in the same position, this rocking of the feet relaxes the muscles and encourages circulation, contributing immeasurably to the prolonged comfort of the user.

It will be understood that my device is, relatively light in weight. Thus, assuming the users feet are on platform 10, he can, simply by spreading his feet apart so that they bear forceably against the inside faces ofthe end wheels 12, lift the footrcst from the floor and shift it bodily to a position nearer to or farther from his chair, as may be needed when he changes his posture or shifts position in the chair. Under the same circumstances, readjustment of the position of conventional footstools ordinarily requires the user to remove his feet and push or pull the stool by hand to a new location which then often proves to be not quite correct when the feet are replaced, so that the whole process may need to be repeated several times before a satisfactory adjustment is achieved. This laborious jockeying is obviated with my unit, for the users feet never leave platform 10 while he is lifting the device with his feet and he obviously does not need to lean forward and use his hands; as a result, the simple movement of lowering his feet brings the device auto matically to rest on the floor in the most comfortable position, with little or no need for further readjustment.

My footrest can, of course, be moved from place'to place about the room simply by rolling it, and when used with different chairs, or by persons of diifering leg length or differing posture, the ease with which it can be shifted into the position and rocked to the angle most comfortable to the user will be quite evident.

Referring to FIG. 2, the underside of platform 10 is padded throughout its length with a cushioning material 20 which is covered with leather or a suitable fabric 22 secured to the opposite longitudinal edges of the platform by cement, tacks or otherwise. By rolling my device around so that the padded face is uppermost (see FIG. 3) it can be used comfortably as a rest for the leg or for the heel of the users shoe. In this position it can again rock freely to the angle most comfortable to the user.

It willbe noted from FIGS. 2 and 3 that the platform 10 proper lies approximately in a plane which intersects each wheel 12 along the diameter of the wheel. By virtue of the thickness of the padding 12 the cushioned surface of the rest platform is offset from the diametrical plane and lies along a chord parallel to the diameter of the wheel. As a result, the supporting surface which is effective when the device is in its FIG. 3 position is somewhat more elevated than is'the case when the device is in its FIG. 2 position. This has been found to be desirable for the reason that when the device is used as a leg rest (FIG. 3) maximum comfort most often is obtained with a somewhat more elevated support than is needed to obtain most comfortable use as a footrest (FIG. 2)

Even a greater difference in the foot elevation obtained in the two positions can be achieved by increasing the thickness of padding 20; however, I prefer to accomplish this, when desired, not by increasing the thickness of padding but rather by shifting the platform 10 away from the diametrical mounting plane in which it is shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.

Conveniently this can be accomplished by providing each wheel 12 with a series of holes 24 for receiving the platform-securing screw 16. These holes are arranged in an are having screw 14 as its center. Thus, by removing the opposite screws 16 from the holes in which they are shown and after swinging the platform into registry with a different pair of holes 24, reinserting the screws 16, the plane of the platform can be shifted to different positions at varying distances from the diametrical plane in which it is shown. Maximum shift from the diametrical plane will, of course, produce the highest elevation of the padded support when my device is used in its FIG. 3 position and the lowest elevation of the unpadded platform 10 when the device is used in its FIG. 2 position.

In addition to the varying degree of elevation of the rest surfaces obtainable in this manner, it should perhaps be noted that when the platform 10 is mounted olfcenter, the center of gravity of my entire footrest is displaced from the axis of rotation of wheels 12. This in no way impairs the ability of my device to rock to the most comfortable inclination of the platform, but it has the advantage of sufficiently unbalancing the unit to inhibit free rolling thereof across the room. If the floor is slightly sloping, for example, it overcomes any danger of the footrest rolling downhill, and instead serves to insure that it always will remain close to its desired position adjacent a given chair unless forceably propelled to another location in the room.

The same result can be obtained, if desired, by giving the end wheels an oval shape as shown at 12a in FIG. 7. If this is done, the wheels always will normally tend to assume such a position that the major axis of the oval is horizontal. Accordingly I prefer to mount the platform 10a at an angle to the major axis of the oval so that the cushioned or uncushioned surface thereof, whichever is uppermost, will be at approximately the correct inclination for most users. In use, this inclination can, of course, be varied by the rocking movement heretofore described.

As still another alternative, the end wheels of my footrest can be generally circular but flattened on one side as shown at 12b in FIGS. 5 and 6. With this construction the padded face of the platform 10b preferably is so arranged as to be uppermost when my unit is resting upon the flat surfaces of the wheels. When inverted for use of the unpadded surface of the platform as a rest for the soles of the feet, the device obviously will rock and function in precisely the same fashion as has been described in connection with FIGS. l-4. When resting upon the fiat surfaces of the wheels the platform isrelatively stationary, but I have arranged for manual adjustment of its angle of inclination by providing an elongate curved slot 26 in each wheel with a thumb screw or wing nut 28 which may be loosened to permit one longitudinal edge of the platform 10b to be raised'or lowered,

4 while the remaining edge turns about the supporting screws 14b as a center. It will be recognized that the adjustment thus effected is similar to that which is accomplished through the provision of holes 24 (FIGS. 1 and 2) but that the final adjustment can be any one of virtually innumerable positions between the limits afforded by slot 26 rather than being restricted to a relatively few positions as in FIGS. 1 and 2.

From the foregoing it will be seen that my invention is one well adapted to attain all of the ends and objects hereinbefore set forth, together with other advantages which are obvious and which are inherent to the structure.

It will be understood that certain features and subcombinations are of utility and may be employed with-- out reference to other features and subcombinations. This is contemplated by and is within the scope of the appended claims.

Inasmuch as many possible embodiments of the invention may be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a footrest of the character described, a rigid unitary structure comprising an elongate generally rectangular rest platform having two opposite faces and having at each end thereof a round floor-engaging wheel, said end wheels being coaxial with one another and larger than the transverse cross section of said platform, which cross section is located inwardly from the margins of both wheels, whereby said unitary structure is adapted to roll on said floor-engaging wheels for any desired distance, whether such distance is greater or smaller than the circumference of said wheels, and said platform is adapted always to turn with the wheels while being supported by them in an elevated position above the floor.

2. A rest as in claim 1, wherein one of said faces of the platform is relatively hard and rigid, and a yieldable cushion covering the opposite face thereof to pad same.

3. A rest as in claim 1, wherein each of said wheels has a skid-resisting tread around the margin thereof to prevent slipping of said wheels on the floor while permitting rolling movement thereof.

4. A rest as in claim 1, wherein each of said wheels is a circular disk.

5. A rest as in claim 4, wherein the plane of said platform intersects each disk substantially along a diameter of that disk.

6. A rest as in claim 4, wherein the plane of said platform intersects each disk substantially along a chord offset from the center of that disk.

7. A rest as in claim 1, wherein said platform is adjustably secured to said wheels to permit shifting of the platform toward and away from the axis of rotation of said wheels.

8. A rest as in claim 1, wherein said wheels are noncircular.

9. A rest as in claim 1, wherein each of said wheels is oval, with the major axis of both ovals lying in the same plane.

10. A rest as in claim 9, wherein said plane substantially coincides with the plane of said platform.

ll. A rest as in claim 9, wherein said plane is inclined with respect to the plane of said platform.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

